Why Apple picked Google to power the new Siri

We know how the next-generation Siri is supposed to work. Apple showed it off in 2024, made commercials about it, and generally promised that AI would change the way we used our gadgets forever. And then, well, none of that came to pass. So Apple made a deal: It tapped Google’s Gemini technology to help it turn Siri into the assistant we were promised. This deal’s a big one, and it could change the landscape of the AI race going forward.

On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay talk about the news that publishers are suing Google en masse on the heels of its adtech antitrust trial, including The Verge’s parent company, Vox Media. Then they talk through what we know about the Siri-Gemini deal, and why some of the details we don’t yet know will end up being hugely important. Either way, though, this all raises the question of whether Apple lost the AI wars in a way it will come to regret, or it simply realized the battle wasn’t fighting. There’s a Cook Doctrine lesson in here somewhere.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, first in Google news:

And in the lightning round: